Mya with shaving cream

Mya having too much fun after her Christmas photos were taken

River wants breakfast now!!!!

Eight months old on November 15th and growing!

Baby Shower for Beka on Saturday, November 26

Our niece Beka is expecting Sadie Kaye in February.  Sadie will be Evelyn's first great-grandchild.  Stepsister Hannah works for an Austin artist.

I think Sarah and Beka got some early Christmas presents from an out-of-town cousin.  Beka and Scott were in Austin  from Chicago for the Thanksgiving holidays.

Heritage Fair with the Horns the day after Thanksgiving

Emma inside the petting zoo

My best guess is that Emma will be taller than me by the time she's  14, maybe sooner.   

This fluffy bunny turned out to have sharp claws!  He left marks when he tried to hop out of Emma's arms.

Emma and P. Tom made pretzels

Fresh from the oven!

The pretzel tops are dipped in butter then covered with salt or a cinnamon/sugar mix.

Ta-da!

Emma learned to dip candles

Alpacas have very soft fur and are smaller than llamas

My first time to hold a duckling.  So soft and cute!

So who knew brooms require pressing?  Papa Tom and I speculated that the broom straws are compressed so the twine can be tied in place

Al, magically making the broom stand alone.  Why do I hear "Hall of the Mountain Kings" from Fantasia about now?  (I think it was "Hall of the Mountain Kings" in the scene with brooms multiplying and carrying buckets of water, right?)

Emma selects her broom to fly with Harry Potter in the next --ooh, what's the name of that game?--Quidditch (?) tournament.

What a clever idea!  A basket for gathering things  at the bottom of the stairs to take upstairs.

Joyce and Emma at the end of the day

Thanksgiving Day

The Sistas with Mom in her kitchen.  Martin gave us Sistas grief about being Southern girls who don't know how to fry okra.  I think we'll be learning how before next Thanksgiving.  Some of the guys: Papa Tom, Destry, Colton

Dad, setting up the turkey carving area for Papa Tom

Mom, Papa Tom, Colton, Destry, DonnaLynn, part of Craig's head, Martin

Mom coaching DonnaLynn and Dad, who're making the dressing

Otis at the pumpkin patch

Fox

Fox, disguised as a jack-o-lantern, sneaks up on her pumpkin.

Otis

Otis was an astronaut for Halloween

Otis with Bananas and the ever-present Thomas the Tank Engine.

My first ever chili cook-off

Papa Tom gets started with John's chili, made with plenty of peppers and turkey.  The cornbread  is for clearing the palate between tastings.

Somehow I've lived in Texas for years and years (1971-74 as Baylor student, and  since 1978) without ever making it to a chili cook off.  This cook used her grandfather's ranch chili recipe that she learned from him when she was 5 years old.  I think some people felt like the cracker jar by the time we'd tasted about 20 different chili recipes with lots of spice!  The winner's secret: she soaks the peppers in Hawaiian Kona coffee.

No chili cook off would be complete without dessert: Pepto Bismol and  Tums!

Donna and Dave compete in the diamond scavenger hunt

Donna and Dave spent Saturday, November 12, in the scavenger hunt for a 1-carat diamond sponsored by Ramsey  Jewelers.  The clues weren't easy!  The first clue was something like: "Red and blue have this in common with each other, but not with orange and purple."  Any guesses?  Donna, I'd love to know where the answer took you on the scavenger hunt.

Water, water everywhere!

Be careful what you pray for?  We'd wanted water for the yard for so long, and it finally arrived via a water main break under our driveway!

The City crew arrived shortly after the break and worked into the night to repair the leak.  The metal piece in the foreground was used to patch the leaky pipe.

When up from the ground come a'bubblin' . . .

On Wednesday, November 2, I walked outside to empty the trash and oh my!  we had six geysers running full blast on either side of the driveway!  (see photo above).  Thank goodness it was a water main and not a sewer main that broke!  Papa Tom  collected gallons and gallons of water for the poor bedraggled peach trees, which were totally stressed from the  never ending hot, hot, dry summer of 2011.

The driveway is about to meet its match.

City workers took out the end of our driveway and pumped water out to get to the broken pipe.  Papa Tom says no dirt was left under the driveway because the water had washed it all out.

Pump power!

Luckily I moved the Zoomer to the street before the driveway surgery began.  I don't think I could  have backed out past all this, and I had a guitar lesson to get to!

The pipe patch is in place.

Finishing touches?

Filling in the hole

Temporary asphalt patch.  The City will send concrete workers for final repairs.

Halloween on Sixth Street

After Papa Tom and I emptied our fourth giant bag of candy and could see yet another gaggle of ghosts and goblins headed our way, we quickly turned out the lights and retreated from the front porch.  Papa Tom wanted to practice piano, but he was afraid the music would give us away.  So we hightailed it to Sixth Street.  But this couple isn't us!  We were our normal selves.

Possibly a tribute to Dia de los Muertes (Day of the Dead), to be observed on  November 1, I think, when families and friends honor those who have gone before them.

From The Nightmare Before Christmas.  The guy was on stilts under his costume.

Re-living the '80s

The Punisher?  Oh boy, those of you in the know will tell me if this is correct.  Isn't the Punisher a Marvel comics hero?